Starting in July, QM is implementing a number of changes related to the course review process to improve the rigor of reviews and to provide more services to subscribers. These changes include naming protocols, new …

3 Types of Interaction That Foster Student Engagement

This is part three of a three-part series on improving the quality of your online course. Below we explain where and how learner engagement occurs.Part one discussed how learning objectives build a solid foundation for your course; part two discussed how to create course alignment to ensure students achieve learning objectives. At Academic Partnerships, we often hear concerns from faculty regarding student engagement and interaction in the virtual classroom. Especially for new online faculty, learner engagement can be challenging to facilitate. But by understanding how student interaction occurs, you can develop holistic techniques to encourage engagement that promotes learning and increases retention.

Three Variables of Engagement

Standard 5 of the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric emphasizes the instructor’s role to facilitate ongoing, active participation between instructor, student, and content. By calling attention to all three of these variables, instructors can foster a deeper, more meaningful online learning experience and prevent an online course from resembling antiquated information in, information out educational models—these models often overlook the ways that shared, social participation can enhance online interactivity.

1. Student-Instructor Interaction

Consistent interaction with your classroom—on a personal and group level—helps support academic expectations among students and gives you a presence they can count on. We’re not just talking about required forms of communication (e.g., timely responses to email inquiries, assignment feedback), but also leveraging educational technology so that your teaching strengths shine. Your LMS’s tools often provide opportunities that enhance your finest teaching attributes in ways that stimulate classroom interaction. Ask yourself, What are my best teaching qualities? Perhaps you’ve always been able to make your classroom laugh with a well-timed joke, or maybe you excel at communicating difficult concepts in ways that are simple and effective. Use technology that allows you to showcase these strengths as you interact with students. Tip: Consider using these tools and methods to increase your presence and interaction with students: VoiceThread, videos, Voki, audio feedback, Screen-cast-o-maticAdditional Resource: Creating an Effective Online Instructor Presence

2. Student-Student Interaction

While your interaction with students remains vital, encouraging peer-to-peer communication is just as essential. To prevent a boring, repetitive, and isolating learning environment, build activities and assignments that ignite classroom discussion. These discussions help alleviate students from feeling sequestered from one another and instead create a dynamic sense of community. These discussions can occur in various formats:

3. Student-Content Interaction

Assignments, activities, goals, and assessments implemented within your course should reinforce active learning—that is, the process through which students actively assimilate rather than passively absorb learning material. You might have spent a good deal of time choosing quality reading materials and designing well-thought assessments, but don’t overlook opportunities to make content dynamic. Tip: Look for ways to enhance text and heighten engagement and feedback through tools like these: Thinglink, Animoto, Dipity, Cacoo, Flashcard Exchange, Prezi, blogs As you continue on your online teaching trajectory, remember to experiment, learn new tricks, and most importantly, have fun utilizing powerful new tools that can help you maintain interactivity between instructor, student, and content.

Share Your Experiences

Which methods and technologies do you use to provide students engagement opportunities?

Starting in July, QM is implementing a number of changes related to the course review process to improve the rigor of reviews and to provide more services to subscribers. These changes include naming protocols, new …

“Those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement.”
~John Hattie (2008)
One of the largest influences on student satisfaction and/or success is a faculty …

How Does Group Work Relate to Student-to-Student Engagement and Overall Success of Course Design? Dr. Melissa Kaulbach and James Bryan Smith answer this question during this episode of Ed Tech Du Jour.

Dr. Joohi Lee, Associate Professor, College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Texas at Arlington, was a recipient of AP’s Faculty Research Grant in our 2012 round of proposals for her proposal, …

“Those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement.”
~John Hattie (2008)
One of the largest influences on student satisfaction and/or success is a faculty …

“Those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement.”
~John Hattie (2008)
One of the largest influences on student satisfaction and/or success is a faculty …

This article was originally written by Academic Partnerships Chairman and CEO, Randy Best, for Inside Higher Ed. Click here for the original post.
As the hype around MOOCs has subsided, a frequently asked question in …

It’s Quality Matters day! Each week, we highlight a Quality Matters standard and review its importance in an online course and how we evaluate this standard.
Today, we are reviewing Quality Matters Standards 1.8
General Standard 1 …

“Those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement.”
~John Hattie (2008)
One of the largest influences on student satisfaction and/or success is a faculty …

“Those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement.”
~John Hattie (2008)
One of the largest influences on student satisfaction and/or success is a faculty …

Anyone involved in the field of educational technology has probably run across headlines like this: “7 Tools That Will Change Education” or “10 Educational Apps Every Teacher Should Have”. I see them on Twitter almost …

ABOUT FACULTY eCOMMONS

Developed by Academic Partnerships, Faculty eCommons is a social learning ecosystem for faculty across the world to work together to improve online education. The site offers industry research, guidance, best practices, and professional development, with a focus on national quality standards.